(Disclaimer: I fully appreciate the irony of someone with the handle "IrishAg04" asking for advice on traveling to Ireland.)

Backstory: My wife and I went to Ireland on our honeymoon 12 years ago and, at that time, told ourselves that we would return for our 10th anniversary. Well, fast forward 10 years and 4 kids later and we weren't able to make that work. My wife turns 40 this year and my MIL offered to watch the kids for a week this summer so we could go on a trip. When we saw that Turnpike Troubadours was scheduled to play a concert in Dublin in late June, we decided to make our return trip to Ireland a couple years later that scheduled.

I was thinking of making the concert in Dublin the tail end of our trip and trying to spend as little time in Dublin as possible. I was thinking of flying into Shannon and spending time on the west coast for the first part of our trip before heading over to Dublin for the concert and then flying back home from there.

Anyone have any recommendations on cool towns to visit over in western Ireland or even along the route from Shannon to Dublin? Or any cool towns to visit in the vicinity of Dublin? I'm hoping to spend as little time traveling within Ireland once we get there since we'll only have a week to spend there. We spent the bill of our previous trip in southwest Ireland around Cork and Killarney and loved that area but now we're hoping to see a different part of the island on this trip.

Would love to hear any feedback (positive or negative) on any experiences y'all may have had and what you might recommend. Thanks!

Our favorite small town on the west coast is Dingle. They have great live music in the pubs and the drive around the Dingle Peninsula is absolutely beautiful. Get reservations for Out of the Blue for seafood. The menu changes daily depending on what the fishing boats bring in. You might also look at Portmagee and doing a boat trip out to the Skellig Islands, an old monastic site where they lived in bee hive huts. Good chance to see puffins too. Grab a copy of Rick Steve's' Ireland guidebook to help you plan your trip. Slinte!

Thanks! I was really disappointed that we weren't able to make it to Dingle last time. I've heard that it's a great place to visit. I really appreciate the recommendations

We visited Ireland in 2006 & had a ball in Dingle. We had every intention of visiting as many pubs as we could. We only made Curran's & Foxy John's. They were so entertaining we lost track of time. The Cliffs of Moher & Doolin were also great.

Your plan is really good. I like Dublin, but the SW Coast of Ireland is one of the more spectacular places one can experience. Flying into Shannon gets you there quicker.

Killarney is my favorite city in Ireland. Offers so much. Ring of Kerry and Dingle are absolute musts. I spent time in Galway, which I enjoyed quite a bit. Lots of pubs with trad Irish music.

In Dublin, I suggest staying near Stephens Green. Places you in the heart of Dublin pubs, restaurants, parks, etc.

I love driving along the Irish coastline, especially in SW Ireland. The entire Dingle peninsula is amazing. I also enjoyed Cahersiveen, I had some of the best pizza ever there.The Oratory Pizza and Wine Bar. It's in a very old church, very interesting place.

If you want something sweet, Valentia Ice Cream Parlour and Farmhouse Dairy near Portmagee has the absolute best ice cream I've ever had. It's made right on the farm.

You can also drop by the family farm west of Ennis. My dad's side of the family has a farm further north in Mayo.

If you're heading north of Shannon, Galway is a neat town. About 45 minutes north of Galway, there is Ireland's School of Falconry, unfortunately, I couldn't get in to do the hawk walk, but did see others doing so with the birds. Really amazing.

We based in Killarney last June and did day trips from there. We were very happy with that.

Thank you all so much for the info! On our honeymoon, my wife and I did a few days each in Cork and Killarney and did day trips out of those cities to places like Blarney Castle and the Ring of Kerry. I loved that part of Ireland but my only hesitation is if we would have a mostly wasted day having to travel from SW Ireland to Dublin at the end of our trip.

If we were to fly in and out of Dublin, does anyone have any recommendations for cool smaller towns on the eastern part of the island? Thanks again!

For east coast places:

Howth is about a 30 minute train ride north from Dublin.

Waterford is one of the first Viking settlements in Ireland.

IrishAg04 said:

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Thank you all so much for the info! On our honeymoon, my wife and I did a few days each in Cork and Killarney and did day trips out of those cities to places like Blarney Castle and the Ring of Kerry. I loved that part of Ireland but my only hesitation is if we would have a mostly wasted day having to travel from SW Ireland to Dublin at the end of our trip.

If we were to fly in and out of Dublin, does anyone have any recommendations for cool smaller towns on the eastern part of the island? Thanks again!

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When I made this same drive, I stopped off and had lunch in Wexford at this great rooftop restaurant. I also stopped off in Redbarn Beach/Youghal. Both were quaint coastal towns and I enjoyed visiting.

Second Waterford. There's a medieval museum there, that is really neat.

Not a town really, but you'll want to go and see the sight below which is near Dublin. The surrounding countryside is beautiful as well.

https://heritageireland.ie/places-to-visit/bru-na-boinne-visitor-centre-newgrange-knowth-and-dowth/

A day trip from Dublin into the Wicklow mountains is great, to Lough Tay. And possibly see the Powerscourt estate.

Here is info compiled from a lot of my prior posts about Ireland and primarily the west coast. I'm biased as my family lives in Sligo. We will also be in Ireland this summer but mostly in July.

How much time do you have?


If you are flying into Shannon then ending in Dublin I recommend the following:

Day 1

• Dingle
• Bunratty castle

Day 2

• Lahinch
• Cliffs of Moher - we had luck getting there late in the day a couple years ago in June. About two hours before close. No crowds at all.
• Galway

Day 3-4

• Sligo town,
• Strandhill village (hiking, surfing, golf, just a chill spot
• hike Knocknarea and Benbulbin,
• Mullaghmore
• Carrick-on-Shannon to see some of the Shannon River and personal boat cruisers

Day 5

• Donegal, lots of great scenery and hiking.

Day 6

• Head back to Dublin for concert

Skip the ring of Kerry. It's way more touristy.
If timing works then go to the horse races in Sligo or Galway.
Sligo Races http://www.countysligoraces.com/
Galway Races http://www.galwayraces.com/


More to do in and around Sligo

• My cousin does outdoor yoga, which may not be your thing, but they'll hike to tops of hills and mountains then do their yoga. This is in Sligo town area. [url=https://www.yourwellbeingwarrior.com/eventscalendar/][/url]https://www.yourwellbeingwarrior.com/
• We have friends that run Northwest Adventure Tours. [url=http://northwestadventuretours.ie/][/url]http://northwestadventuretours.ie/ They may have something that interests you.
• A friend of my sister runs https://www.sligosurfexperience.com/ if you want to give that a try in Strandhill.

Donegal

• Slieve League is definitely a place to stop. They are the tallest cliffs in Europe. There are a couple neat towns to stop in. Killybegs is a neat fishing port that some times have the massive "factory" fishing ships in port. Ardara (Are-draw) is another nice sea side town.
• Glenveagh park
• Rathmullen and Buncrana

Prior posts with more details.

• https://texags.com/forums/54/topics/2451814/replies/38818348
• https://texags.com/forums/54/topics/1862657/replies/27320024

Just got back 2 weeks ago....

Best Food - Ring of Kerry outer loop. Fisherman's Bar in Portmagee. Had seafood platter, fresh and amazing

Best Pubs we found:
Bob's Pub - Durrow - live music weekends, opens at 5pm, sit by river and drink your Guinness . I want to go back and spend days at this place. small waterfall right by deck, looking at old bridge, some folks fly fishing

Marcies and Sally Rodgers- Trim (by Dublin)- both on river. Can walk from one to other and back through castle and Abby ruins. Bridge by Sally Rodgers is oldest still in operation in Ireland 1300+/-

Kruger's on Dingle ring was a really good stop. Pizza, beer and of course meat pie. Most western pub in Ireland

Dublin - some neat stuff but not our vibe, busy, dirty city. Saw more meth heads in one day than ever before.

Shannon - easy in/ out airport

Cliffs of Moher - go early, I mean first thing. Parking lot has room for 30 tour buses and there were 20 plus parked as we left around 11am.

Rental car - get tire insurance, roads are tiny and I kept going off left side with front tire. sidewall tire cut.